The Battle of Pinjarra, which occurred in , is one of the most notorious massacres of Aborigines in Australian history. Captain James Stirling, Governor of the Colony of Western Australia, responded to continuing requests for military protection from a small group of settlers on the Murray River.
The new settlement at Pinjarra lay some 80 kilometres south of the Swan River settlement. Stirling formed a party of about twenty-five that was a mixture of police, soldiers and a few settlers. Their plan was to punish any Aborigines in the local area in order to drive home the message that the settlers and their cattle must not be attacked or speared.
One account of the massacre explained the rationale for the attack as simply that the moment was considered favourable for punishing the perpetrators of such acts. The party came across a group of seventy Aborigines.
The Aborigines, sensing trouble, fled into the bush. Stirling divided the party and attempted to encircle the fleeing group. After good Winter rains, you can step up the pace with a paddle down the Murray River rapids in a kayak, while year-round thrills can be found by taking the plunge with a skydiving experience. Or join the locals for race day at the historic Pinjarra Race Club, which has played host to an array of thoroughbred and harness racing events since Or plan your trip for June to coincide with the popular Pinjarra Festival.
John was a tenant farmer and Mary Anne the local postmistress. The complex comprises the main house with six bedrooms, two offices, a dining room, parlour, front and back veranda and the Kitchen block with the caretaker's quarters, kitchen, scullery and creamery. Patrons of the hotel and post office entered the small rooms off the veranda while access to the family bedrooms was from the dining room and parlour.
The National Trust now run the building. It is open Saturday It was the first flour mill in the Murray region. Joseph Cooper built it by collecting limestone rocks and, every morning, sailing them across to the island. Cooper began work on the mill in but he was killed in an accident before it was completed in Cooper was a wheelwright so he had the skills to make the machinery. His sons Thomas and James inherited the mill and with the help of Dan Myerick, a carpenter, and Josiah Stinton it was completed.
The mill is a triumph of tenacity. Cooper was faced with enormous problems. The stone probably came from a place 15 km away. It has been suggested that he rowed along a shallow pathway to reach the island and that he used the easterly wind in the morning to row across and the sea breeze in the afternoon to return.
The mill was used between and A combination of floods and bushfires effectively brought milling operations to a halt. For a time it was used as a smokehouse for curing fish and up to the s it was the home of an eccentric Russian emigre known as Old Martin. It was restored in , and The result is a beautifully white washed building. This famous farm school was established in by a South African 'visionary' Kingsley Fairbridge, who created a series of schools where "the orphans and poor children of the British Empire could be removed from their poverty".
Fairbridge spelt out his ambitions when he wrote: "I saw great Colleges of Architecture not work houses springing up in every man-hungry corner of the Empire. I saw children shedding the bondage of bitter circumstances and stretching their legs and minds amid the thousand interests of the farm. I saw waste turned to providence, the waste of unneeded humanity converted to the husbandry of unpeopled acres. The boarding houses all have famous British names such as Nelson, Kitchener, Clive, Shakespeare, Livingstone, Oxford, Raleigh, and Darwin and they are nestled in amongst stands of trees.
The setting is rural and peaceful. This facade was torn asunder in when the full extent of the abuse of children at Fairbridge was revealed. The payments were made under the Redress WA scheme for children abused in State care. Today the complex, which has been run by Fairbridge WA Inc since , is used for programs for young people.
As it says on its website: "Fairbridge works with children with a disability, young people at risk, young people with drug problems, the unemployed, young people in our justice system, young people who are struggling with life, indigenous young people and refugees, through to gifted young people.
Fairbridge helps young people to reach their full potential and bring about long term positive sustainable change in their lives.
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